Day Trip to Giverny from Paris
If you are a fan of Claude Monet and Impressionism, Giverny is the place to go. True, Paris boasts some of the best museums to learn about Monet and Impressionism in general, like Orly Museum or Musée Marmottan-Monet. However, Impressionism is all about “plein air” (painting outdoors), so there’s no better place to enjoy Impressionism than where the artists set their easels to paint their masterworks.
So if you have a spare day in your Paris itinerary and the weather is good, we definitely recommend a day trip to Giverny from Paris to visit Monet’s Garden and House.
Monet’s Gardens in Giverny is one of the most popular day trips from Paris. Click here for the list of best day trips from Paris
Monet’s Garden and House in Giverny
After spending many years in Paris, Monet and his family moved to the little village of Giverny in 1883, when the artist was 43. Monet believed he could work better on light and color in a place like Giverny.
In this small village in Normandy, Monet finds a “peasant house” for rent – the Clos Normand – bordered by a vegetable garden and an orchard. The closed set of walls covered almost one hectare. When his financial situation improved, Monet ended up buying the house and the adjoining garden in 1890.
During 40 years and until his death, Monet arranged, rearranged, and enlarged this house, where he died in 1926. Monet’s House is best known for its Water Lily Pond, where Monet painted his world-famous water lilies. Monet’s water lilies and the Japanese bridge are the most popular things to see in Giverny, but of course, there is much more to visit.
READ MORE – Follow Monet’s steps in Paris
Best Time to Visit Giverny and Monet’s Garden
What is the best time to visit Giverny, and more specifically, the best time to visit Monet’s Garden? Monet’s House and Garden in Giverny are closed during the winter. Monet’s Estate opens its doors in the spring, every day from 29 March 2024 to 1st November 2024.
For most visitors, the visit to Monet’s Estate is focused on the Garden, which will be more or less exuberant depending on the season.
» In spring, two of the emblematic trees in Monet’s Garden – the apple tree and the cherry tree – start to bloom
» In June, the first water lilies start to wake up to reach their full bloom in July.
» Visit Giverny Gardens in October for its amazing fall colors.
How to Get to Giverny from Paris
Giverny is located 70 km northwest of Paris. Compared to other day trips from Paris, like Versailles Palace and Gardens or the medieval town of Provins, the small town of Giverny is not that easy to reach by public transportation. By easy, we mean that there is no direct connection, and the price is not that cheap compared to other options like guided tours.
Below, are the most common ways to visit Giverny on a day trip from Paris.
Paris to Giverny Day Trip by Car
The car is the best option to visit Giverny. By car, you can go from Paris to Giverny in only 55 min and perhaps complete your Paris to Giverny day trip with other beautiful small towns near Paris like La Roche-Guyon or Les Andelys.
Another interesting option could be to extend your trip to Etretat on the Norman coast and transform your Paris Giverny trip into a weekend getaway from Paris. You can check here the best hotels to sleep in Etretat.
If you need to rent a car, try to find an agency located north of Paris, so you avoid the hassle of crossing the city by car – Click here to rent your car in Paris
Paris to Giverny Day Trip by Train + Bus
Unfortunately, there is no direct train from Paris to Giverny, but this does not mean that a trip to Giverny from Paris by public transportation is not possible.
» At Paris Saint Lazare Station, take the train to Rouen Rive Droite (46-minute ride, hourly).
» Stop at Gare de Vernon-Giverny, exit the train station, and walk around 600m to the VTNI 27 bus stop.
» Take bus #250, direction Entrepagny (5 to 10 minutes drive). There are only three buses daily, so don’t miss your bus!
» The total cost of your Giverny trip, one way, is 15 to 27€, depending on the train fare that you get.
Book a Paris to Giverny Tour
A Paris to Giverny tour is a great idea because it avoids all the transportation hassle. Amongst all the Giverny day trips from Paris, this self-guided Giverny tour with train tickets always gets great reviews. This 5-hour tour, with or without an audio guide, includes transportation from Paris to Giverny and the Monet House and Garden tickets. Once in Giverny, the participants can visit the Estate on their own for around 2 hours.
Click here to book this tour to Giverny
Book a Giverny Bike Tour
Choose this Giverny day trip from Paris to explore a bit of the French countryside by bike. This 9-hour Giverny bike tour includes a transfer to/from Vernon, an awesome bicycle ride through the scenic wheat and sunflower fields of the French countryside, a shortstop to visit the cemetery where Monet is buried, and the entrance tickets to Monet’s House and Garden. Once the tour arrives at Monet’s Estate, visitors have around 1.5 hours to visit it on their own.
Click here to book this bike tour to Giverny
Combine Giverny + Another Destination on a Day Tour
If you want to get the most of your day out of Paris, combining Giverny with another destination nearby can be a good idea. The list of this kind of combo tour is long, with interesting proposals like Giverny + Rouen or Giverny + Auvers-sur-Oise.
We don’t recommend combining Giverny with Versailles, though. Versailles Palace and Gardens are so big, and there are so many things to see and do that a full-day tour to Versailles is your best option. Below, the list of our favorite combo tours:
» Full-day tour to Giverny and Rouen from Paris. This is a Monet all-day tour to visit his house and the cathedral in Rouen, so cherished by the artist and model of many of his paintings.
» Full-day tour to Giverny and Honfleur. Discover two of the most beautiful sights in the region of Normandy.
» Full-day tour to Giverny and Auvers-Sur-Oise. Explore the world and source of inspiration for two of the best artists of the last centuries. Auvers-Sur-Oise is where Van Gogh painted his last works.
Visit Monet’s House and Workshop in Giverny
Visitors can enter Monet’s Workshop from the living room through a short passage painted blue. The workshop is located on the ground floor, and it was originally a barn attached to the house. Monet was so obsessed with light that he made installed a glass roof for his workshop.
Years later, Monet moved his workshop to another barn not far from the house, and this place became a “fumoir” (a lounge smoker) in which he showed his paintings to his friends and potential clients. This is a very cozy place full of Monet’s paintings displayed on the walls and personal objects.
The rest of the 2-floor house is bright and cozy, with the kitchen and living spaces on the ground floor and the rooms on the first floor. Monet’s room is simple and with great views over the garden. It is interesting to notice that Monet liked to sleep surrounded by his friends’ paintings: Cézanne, Renoir, Caillebotte, but also Berthe Morizot, Boudin, and Signac.
On the ground floor, there are common rooms like the light and colorful kitchen or the dining room. These rooms look like Monet paintings, where nothing is left to chance.
Visit Monet’s Garden
Monet acquires a love of plants and gardening by frequenting the gardens of his friends and later working in his own garden at Argenteuil near Paris. In Giverny, he models his Garden to perfection to paint it better.
During Monet’s life, there were up to six gardeners working in the artist’s Garden at Giverny under his direct supervision. This is proof of the importance that Monet gave to the Garden.
Monet arranged squares of perennial flowers, playing with their colors for his paintings. He had a passion for tulips, and you can find them everywhere, together with agapanthus, nasturtiums, dahlias, irises, wisterias, poppies, and peonies. Today, Giverny Garden is kept by ten gardeners.
Visit Monet’s Water Lily Pond in Giverny
The Water Lily Pond is the most special and the most beautiful part of the Giverny Garden.
Monet’s Water Lily Pond was created by deviating one of the small arms of the Epte River. The artist spent many hours by the pond contemplating nature and the reflection of the sky on the water.
On this Water Lily Pond, he created a surreal world that he translated into his world-famous paintings of water lilies. Come to see the water lilies from June to August.
Is Giverny Worth Visiting?
Definitely YES!, especially if you like Monet’s artwork. Giverny is a small village, and Monet’s Estate can be visited in 1 hour or 2, so even if your Parisian holidays are short, a half-day trip from Paris to Giverny is easy to fit in.
The artist’s garden at Giverny and especially the Water Lily Pond are spectacular and well worth a short break out of Paris!
Click here for more Side Trips from Paris
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